Senior Strategic Deployment Manager

Retell; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/dental/vision coverage

DoorDash credits

Wellness reimbursement

Commuter reimbursement

Phone bill reimbursement

Internet reimbursement

Job summary

Retell AI is seeking a Senior Strategic Deployment Manager to work with leading customers and translate AI opportunities into production-scale deployments. You’ll bridge strategy, technology, product, and execution to drive measurable business impact.

You’ll partner with executives and operators, define paths forward, and lead cross-functional teams across Sales, Product, Engineering, and Customer Success. This highly visible role requires exceptional communication and strong program management.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to translate business goals into AI-enabled deployments (≤140 chars)
• Strong communication with executives and operators (≤140 chars)
• Experience leading cross-functional customer engagements (≤140 chars)

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic customer engagements from discovery through production and expansion.
• Define winning AI deployment paths in collaboration with executives and operators.
• Coordinate multi-team initiatives across Sales, Product, Engineering, and Customer Success.
• Translate ambiguous customer problems into clear requirements and execution plans.
• Build ROI models and business cases to justify AI initiatives.

Skills

Executive communication

Cross-functional leadership

Program management

Strategic consulting

Customer-facing

Job description

About Retell Ai

Retell AI is using first-principles thinking to reimagine the call center with cutting-edge voice AI. Thousands of companies now use Retell's AI voice agents to handle sales, support, and logistics calls that once required large teams of human agents. Backed by Y Combinator, Alt Capital, and other leading investors, we've scaled to $80M in ARR with a team of 50, up from $5M at the start of 2025, and are now valued at over $1.5B.

Our vision for 2026 is to build a modern CX platform where entire contact centers are powered by AI. Instead of basic automation that needs constant human tuning, we're creating intelligent AI “workers” that act as frontline agents, QA analysts, and managers, continuously executing, monitoring, and improving every customer interaction.

We're growing fast and looking for ambitious builders who want to tackle hard technical problems, move quickly, and have a real impact on one of the fastest-growing voice AI companies in the world.

Let's build the future together.

Recent Recognition

• No. 1 Best Places to Work in the Bay Area, San Francisco Business Times 2026
• Top 50 AI Apps, a16z (2025)
• #3 Fastest-Growing Software Company, G2 Best Software Awards 2026
• Best Agentic AI Software, G2 Best Software Awards 2026
• #4 Fastest-Growing Software Vendor, Brex Benchmark 2025
• Enterprise Tech 30 Class of 2026, Nasdaq & Wing VC
• Top-Ranked Startup, Lean AI Leaderboard
• Backed by Y Combinator

About The Role

As a Senior Strategic Deployment Manager, you’ll work directly with some of the world’s leading companies to identify where AI can have the biggest impact and help turn those opportunities into real, production-scale deployments.

You’ll operate at the intersection of strategy, technology, product, and execution. You’ll work with executives and senior operators to understand their business, identify opportunities for AI automation, build the business case, and lead cross-functional teams through implementation and launch.

This is a highly visible role with significant ownership. You’ll work closely with Sales, Product, Engineering, and Customer Success, while helping shape how Retell’s largest customers adopt and scale voice AI.

If you enjoy ambiguous problems, working with senior stakeholders, and taking an idea from “should we do this?” to “this is running in production,” this role is for you.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead strategic customer engagements from initial discovery through production and expansion.
• Partner with executives and senior operators to understand business goals, identify high-impact AI opportunities, and define the right path forward.
• Lead complex customer initiatives involving multiple stakeholders, teams, and business processes.
• Translate ambiguous customer problems into clear requirements, strategies, and execution plans.
• Build business cases and ROI models to help customers prioritize AI initiatives and measure impact.
• Design AI-powered workflows and operating models that fit into existing business processes.
• Partner with Sales on strategic accounts, including discovery, solution design, executive presentations, and deal strategy.
• Work closely with Product and Engineering to scope solutions, unblock complex problems, and influence product priorities.
• Act as a trusted advisor to customer executives, technical leaders, and operators throughout the engagement.
• Drive alignment across internal and external teams and keep complex initiatives moving forward.
• Identify opportunities to expand AI adoption across customer organizations.
• Turn successful customer engagements into repeatable playbooks, frameworks, and best practices.
• Bring customer insights back to Retell to help shape the product and overall deployment strategy.

YOU MIGHT THRIVE IF YOU

• Are an exceptional communicator who can build credibility quickly with executives and technical teams.
• Enjoy working directly with customers and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Have strong business and product intuition and can quickly understand complex workflows.
• Are comfortable operating in ambiguous situations and creating structure from scratch.
• Can connect technical possibilities to real business outcomes.
• Have strong project and execution skills and know how to keep complex initiatives moving.
• Are comfortable working across Sales, Product, Engineering, and Customer Success.
• Have experience in strategic consulting, product management, deployment, solutions consulting, forward deployed engineering, implementation, or another customer-facing technology role.
• Have experience leading complex projects or strategic initiatives with multiple stakeholders.
• Have experience with business cases, ROI analysis, value creation, or strategic planning.
• Can communicate technical concepts clearly without needing to be the person writing all the code.
• Are excited about AI and enjoy figuring out where new technology can create meaningful business impact.
• Like being close to customers and want to have a direct influence on both the customer’s success and Retell’s product direction.
• Want a role with a lot of ownership at the intersection of strategy, technology, product, and execution.

JOB DETAILS

• Cash: 170k - 260k
• Equity: Equity Provided
• Location: New York City, NY OR Redwood City, CA, US
• US Visas: Retell AI is open to sponsoring work authorization for qualified candidates, including H1B/H-1B, TN, L-1, E-3, F-1 (OPT/CPT).

Other Benefits

• 100% coverage for medical, dental, and vision insurance
• $70/day DoorDash credit for unlimited breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks
• $200/month wellness reimbursement (gym, fitness classes, etc.)
• $300/month commuter reimbursement (gas, Caltrain, etc.)
• $75/month phone bill reimbursement
• $50/month internet reimbursement

Compensation Philosophy

• Best Offer Upfront: Choose from three cash-equity balance options; no negotiation needed.
• Top 1% Talent: Above-market pay (top 5 percentile) to attract exceptional builders.
• High Ownership: Small teams, >$1M revenue/employee, and significant equity.
• Performance-Based: Offers tied to interview performance, not experience or past salaries.

INTERVIEW PROCESS

• Talent Screen (15 min): An introductory conversation with our recruiting team to learn more about your background, experience, and interest in Retell.
• Functional Interview (45 min): A practical discussion focused on problem-solving, communication, customer-facing judgment, and how you approach ambiguous business and technical challenges.
• Hiring Manager Interview (30 min): A conversation focused on past experiences, ownership, stakeholder management, and working in high-growth environments.
• Final Interviews (3 hrs): A series of collaborative interviews with members of our Product, Engineering, and GTM teams. We'll explore how you think through customer problems, work cross-functionally, communicate with stakeholders, and execute in fast-paced environments.